I don't own Kingdom Hearts, final fantasy, or any relating character or elements, nor do I claim ownership in any way, shape, or form.
XXX
Dark. Wet. Pungent. Perfect for it's one occupant. Monsters belonged in this place, and there weren't many monsters like this man.
She hated coming down here, but even monsters needed to eat, even if he deserved to starve. For a second, she was guilty, but when she thought back to what he did, it passed. She approached his cell.
"My, my. Those footsteps, could it be?""
And so it began…
"Blue? Come to pay me a visit?"
"That's Aqua." She answered, unlocking his door and opening it.
"Or perhaps you've come for more?" The man turned to her and smirked. She couldn't stand a damn thing about him. Not his long, black hair. Not his messy beard, unattended to for a decade. "Get rid of these shackles, and I'll show you a real good time."
"I've seen what you do without those shackles. It's pure evil."
He snickered. "Tell me. What is good without evil?"
Aqua threw the food tray in her hands down onto the ground before him. He looked at it, then to her. "Maybe there's something else I can taste that you're offering." She slammed the door, and locked it. "How about letting me have a shower? You can join if you want. Maybe invite Red too, show her what a real man can do."
"Sora's a hundred times the man you are." Aqua retorted, walking off.
"Come on, why are you leaving? You've thought about it. Just do it."
"I wouldn't want to go ten feet near you!"
"I wasn't talking about that. I mean killing me." She stopped, frozen for a minute. Returning to his cell, she opened a slid. "What?"
"Do it. Call your Keyblade, cut my throat. You hate what I stand for."
"And what do you stand for?"
"Chaos. You stand for order. One is a counterbalance to the other. Order and Chaos. Protector and destroyer. Light and darkness. All things serve to counter their opposite. We destroy, we're replaced, and they're destroyed in turn. It's what keeps this world order running."
"Is that why you…"
"Killed the neo-kin?" He snickered. "Good times. I miss the smell of burning flesh. The sight and sound. I spread chaos. Chaos reminds people of the darkness in their heart. Without darkness, nothing counters the light. Darkness creates diversity, and without diversity, the world's balance crumbles.
"Darkness creates diversity and balance?" Aqua questioned. "But darkness destroyed the world."
"No, darkness destroyed the world that came before ours. An unbalanced world was torn apart by diversity, and in its place, we came along. The new world, a superior world."
"But billions died."
"And that's why people like me emerged. To spread hate and death, ensuring that never happens again, and keep darkness alive. So long as darkness burns strong enough, the world will continue to move forward, just as the children wanted.
She'd heard enough, and closed the slide. He spoke as if he were a man born of providence. She didn't want to hear it. The world as he described, wasn't a world she wanted. War, murder and death. Nothing could justify that. He was wrong. He had to be.
XXX
The chambers were empty when Riku entered; the white sphere at the back of the room was jumping like crazy, meaning one thing. An urgent incoming message of top priority, but from who? He approached it. "It's Riku here."
"Ah Riku, it's good to hear your voice."
"Master Yen Sid. Is something wrong?"
"I detected an imbalance."
"What kind of imbalance?"
"I'm not sure, but it's worrying. It would be prudent to investigate."
"Yes, master Yen Sid. What world was it?" The white sphere shrunk and moved to Riku's hand.
"This orb will show the way."
"I'll get someone on it right away."
He left the chamber and began the journey down the hall. Someone had to investigate; the only question now was who. Aqua, Ventus, or Himself. Maybe Lea, or…Zehr? Maybe he, the youngest and newest of the eight masters. He'd been one of them for four years, but hadn't had a real chance to test himself since his exam. He was restless, and young. A dangerous combination for Neo-kin. This would be good for him.
Following the sound of combat, he entered one of the training rooms. He was there, supervising the combat drills for the half-dozen apprentices. Two of them were duelling. A girl, Mira, and a boy, Hunter. Both were young, no more than fifteen.
Their little wooden Keyblades clanged. She was on the offensive, but failing to land a hit. He dodged, spun, and tripped her. She hit the ground, and he stood over her, his wooden weapon at her head.
"Nope, can't do it." He dropped his wooden Keyblade, "can't hit a girl."
Zehr growled. "Mira!"
"Yes master!" Her foot darted out, and kicked Hunter in the groin. A high yelp escaped his lips as he fell to his knees. The master threw himself forward, grabbing him by the scalp and pulling him up. "If your enemy still draws breath, they are still your enemy, and if we see enemies, we kill them. In a fight, a woman is just a dangerous as a man. He threw the boy to the ground with tremendous force. Zehr, though only nineteen, was a large man, will over six feet. He'd grown fast and strong, as did all of his kind. This gave him the appearance of a man well into his prime. Zehr turned to meet Riku's gaze. Those were one thing that held him apart from others. His eyes weren't those of a human. They belonged to a beast. Red irises, slit pupils, and his sclera weren't white, they were black as charcoal. He was a Neo-kin, altered for perfection in combat. The eyes served to remind people of that. 'They are warriors, nothing more, nothing less.' Those were the apparent words of their creators, until the Neo-kin rebelled. Zehr turned back to the students, "dismissed." Once the children had left, Riku entered, closing the door behind him.
"Riku." Zehr greeted. "You got more complaints?"
"That's not why I'm here." The silveret replied, locking eyes. Zehr stepped close.
"That's not what I asked?" He was looking for a fight. That was obvious. Neo-kin had much higher testosterone levels, but Riku didn't have the time or patience for that now.
"They are just kids."
"So what? Do you want me to train them or mother them?"
"I want you to tone it down." Riku answered.
"I can't do that. The more they struggle, the stronger they'll become." Zehr stated. "Clearly you don't understand that. That's why your kids are at the bottom of the class."
And them only being ten has nothing to do with it, right. Riku thought. "This isn't why I'm here," Riku sighed, "you have an assignment." Zehr raised an eyebrow. "What kind of assignment."
"A planet investigation. It isn't a world breaking event, but maybe it'll calm you down."
"The only thing that'll calm me down is either a battlefield or a bunch of really tough hookers." Zehr chuckled. "But I'll do it anyway. Someone's gonna have to take over my training sessions."
"I'll ask Ventus." Riku said
"The hell you will! I'm not having my students turned into grinning idiot pussies!"
"You know, he's a lot stronger than you give him credit for."
"Fighting ability has nothing to do with it. He's got as much discipline as they do, and he's too easy going. Either do it yourself or get Lea. I don't suppose what's-his-face is gonna come out of his self-imposed exile."
"Sorry, we don't even know where Terra is." Riku admitted. "Alright, I'll ask Lea. Get your things and meet me in the courtyard. You have half an hour."
"I'll take ten minutes."
In truth, it only took five minutes. As the Neo-kin approached Riku in the courtyard. He slammed his hand on his shoulder plate and was engulfed in a bright light. Riku had to look away until it faded. Fully covered in armour, Zehr summoned his Keyblade.
"I've unlocked the lanes between." Riku stated, throwing the orb of light to the armoured master. "This will show you the way. And make sure no one knows you're from another world."
"I know what to do." Zehr threw his Keyblade behind him. It flew into the air, out of site. He took off in a run, as his Keyblade came soring back, not as a weapon, but as a glider. He leapt into the air, landing on his Key-glider and flying into the air. A bright light emerged in the sky, and as he flew into it, was engulfed in a brilliant light, and when it vanished, he was gone.
"He'll be alright." Riku said aloud, before returning to the building.
He had no idea just how wrong he was.
XXX
A few days later, he was awoken in the middle of the night.
"Riku." The voice belonged to Aqua, he realized after a few seconds, "We need to talk."
"Alright," he whispered, "give me a minute." When she left, he got out of bed, careful not to wake Porom, his wife. (1)
He put on some pants and a cloak, before meeting the other master outside his room. "What is it?"
"A message from Radiant garden. It's Zehr. He's there, and he's hurt. He's hurt bad.
XXX
He made for Radiant garden with haste, arriving within an hour or two. It was as beautiful as ever, except for the large crater in the middle of the market place. That must have been where he crash-landed. He needed to know what happened, but first, he needed to find Zehr. He began to ask around. Plenty of people had seen the incident, but no one knew where he'd gone afterwards. He asked around the entire city, but no one could help. He was beginning to get frustrated, until finally he came upon the wizard merlin's house, who pointed him toward the castle.
Dilan and Aeleus were guarding the castle entrance, and when the saw Riku approach, they stepped aside and let him through without a word. Leon was the one who greeted him and escorted him to the lab, where the rest of the former radiant garden restoration committee were waiting, along with Evan and Ienzo. On a table, hooked up two medical machines, was Zehr.
"What happened?" Riku asked.
Evan stepped forward. "He had an information orb following him. I had it deconstructed and stored in this." He handed him a data pad.
"There's four entries on this." Riku said, playing the first
"I've just landed." Zehr's voice began. "This place is a cesspit. I'm starting my investigation. Doubt I'll find anything though. Doesn't look like anyone's here. Assignment my ass." Riku played the second entry.
"Something's definitely off here. I'm seeing towns, but no people. No struggle. Nothing. Like they just up and left. Wait, there's a tunnel here. Looks pretty new too. I'm gonna check it out now." So Yen Sid was right, something was up. But what. He played the third entry.
"Damn it! I found the population, but they attacked me! No warnings, no threats, no provocation. Nothing. They were covered with some stony grey surface too. I'm heading further in." Stone surface. His eyes widened slightly. The neo-kin, those who weren't directly killed that murderer Hydan, lost their minds, but before that, they began to grow a stone-like surface on their bodies. He played the fourth entry.
"There's some kind of talisman here. No Idea what the hell it is. Anyway, I'm gonna bring it in. Someone can check it out then."
"A talisman?" Riku questioned.
"He didn't have anything on him when I found him," Aerith said.
Nodding, Riku approached Zehr. "Can he wake up, or is he in a coma?"
"The sleep is purely artificial." Ienzo explained. "I can wake him anytime."
"Do it." He accessed the computer terminal and pushed a single button. "You might want to step back too." Ienzo did so.
Zehr's eyes began to flicker, before opening. Dazed at first, he began to focus, and his breathing began to increase. He shot up, and ripped himself free of the machines. Blood splattered out as the needles left his body. "Where am I?!" he summoned his Keyblade, his eye darting around the room, but as they fell on Riku, his breathing calmed, and he dismissed his weapon.
"Are you alright?" he nodded. "Then let's head back. You can give me a full report later." He nodded again as he followed Riku out of the room.
XXX
The dungeon's doors creaked open and closed. Was it meal time already? He heard his door unlock, and open. He looked up. Riku was the one feeding him this time. His face was completely neutral. He threw his meal down to the ground, a grey broth, and it spilt on the ground.
"Well, at least the rats will like it." He answered in an apathetic tone.
"Hydan, I need answers."
"Is that right?" His smirk hidden by his dirty black beard. "And what's the question? Why are woman more satisfied with me than you, maybe?"
"The Neo-kin." Riku began. "Some of them were mutated. Looked like they were covered in stone. What caused it?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?" Riku didn't respond. "And more to the point, why should I tell you. Make it worth my while.
"You want to cut a deal?" Riku questioned, crossing his arms. "What are you thinking?"
"How about leaving me alone with Red for a few minutes. Riku's fists clenched. "Alright, alright, the princess is off limits, I get it." He whistled. "I got it. I want a bigger cell. And three meals a day, not just one. And make it the good stuff, not whatever you find in the toilet."
It took a while before he replied. "Alright."
"Now throw in a hooker every now and then and you've got a deal." Riku scowled. "But if you don't want to know…"
"Fine, you've got a deal." Riku sighed.
"You serious? You'll keep your word?"
"Yes, now talk."
"The crystal stone."
"The what?"
"Now that wasn't part of the deal." Hydan snickered. "Now you're a man of your word, aren't you? A man keeps his promises, right." Riku bit his lip before he said something he shouldn't. "Wait, what brought this on? What's happening out there?" Riku didn't answer; he just slammed the door and locked it.
XXX
I assume you know who she is, and no, before you ask, it's her from the after years period, not the little girl her! She's twenty-eight, not twelve, okay.